Kentucky Water Quality Issues

Kentucky is a land filled with waterways, except around beautiful caves and karst systems where they are called and should be recognized as Underground Rivers. Kentucky’s 90,961 miles of surface mile streams creates one of the most expansive and complex natural water systems in the US. Kentucky possesses more navigable miles of water than any other state in the union, other than Alaska and has both the largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi in water volume (Lake Cumberland) and surface area (Kentucky Lake). It is the only U.S. state to be bordered on three sides by rivers — the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and the Big Sandy River and Tug Fork to the east. Major internal rivers include the Kentucky River, Tennessee River, Cumberland River, Green River, and Licking River.